Conscious awareness and time perception

Psych J. 2017 Sep;6(3):228-238. doi: 10.1002/pchj.173. Epub 2017 Jul 26.

Abstract

This paper examines Zhou, Pöppel, and Bao's 2014 proposal ("In the Jungle of Time: The Concept of Identity as a Way Out," https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00844) to unify the psychology of time through a biological principle concerning identity and homeostasis. Although the present analysis largely agrees with their proposal, it argues that a Dual Model of time (see Montemayor's 2013 monograph, Minding Time: A Philosophical and Theoretical Approach to the Psychology of Time) is needed to account for two important roles in time cognition, one related to navigation and the other to conscious awareness. In a Dual Model, the homeostatic principle plays a critical role with respect to conscious awareness, but a different principle is needed for integrating the metric constraints on navigation.

Keywords: attention; consciousness; homeostasis; memory; time perception.

MeSH terms

  • Awareness*
  • Consciousness*
  • Humans
  • Time Perception*